Irrigation commissioners refuse to pass BIA-suggested assessment
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ST. IGNATIUS — Irrigation commissioners for the Flathead Joint Board of Control refused to increase assessments on their constituents last week, despite a request from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to do so.
It is unclear what the ramifications of not instating the 29 percent operations and maintenance fee increase that the BIA has proposed could be. The federal agency is currently in charge of managing the project, but the Flathead Joint Board of Control is responsible for levying assessments.
Commissioners said they have been unsatisfied with the BIA’s explanation of why an increase is needed. At a project meeting in May, BIA Project Manager Pete Plant gave a budget and some explanation of how the increase would go to increase personnel, tackle major projects, and catch up on millions of dollars in deferred maintenance projects. Commissioners said they wanted a more specific accounting of what the increase was for.
“I think the proposal is pretty ludicrous when there is no accounting for what this money is supposed to be used for,” Commissioner Jerry Laskody said. “It is kind of silly of them to expect us to tell our constituents that we are going to levy a $7.50 (per acre) increase on them, and we can’t explain what this increase is for.”
Commissioner Tim Orr said he was also unwilling to levy the increase because of the numerous problems with water delivery that have arisen during the season.
“I do not think we should reward incompetent project management,” Orr said.
The board’s attorney Kristin Omvig said that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has indicated that providing an accounting of what the increase in operations and maintenance fees are for could cause problems in an ongoing lawsuit between the board and the bureau.
In 2014, the irrigation districts that make up the Flathead Joint Board of Control sued for control of the irrigation project. The project had been run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for decades, but was turned over to a Cooperative Management Entity with equal representation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Flathead Joint Board of Control in 2010. Local control was disbanded after the Flathead Joint Board of Control fell apart in late 2013 in a bout of political infighting over the proposed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs resumed control of the project in early 2014. Shortly thereafter, the Flathead Joint Board of Control sued for control of the project in federal court. Omvig said the suit could continue for months or years.
Some irrigators in attendance asked that a request be made through congressional representation to have the Government Accountability Office audit the project’s finances.
“I was just amazed that there is no legal regress for the BIA for gross incompetence and lack of accountability,” irrigator Giles Gordon said. “That seems to be amazing ... There must be some legal way of forcing them to respond.”
Irrigator Susan Lake suggested the board try sitting down with tribal representation to see if some headway could be made outside of the courtroom.
“I’m not at all excited about $7.50 (per acre) increase,” Lake said. “But part of the reason this has happened is because the board chose to go a different direction and sue the BIA rather than work with them ... It seems like we have lots of issues and this board should be working to get it back and have a reasonable discussion.”
Lake wondered what the ultimate cost of not raising the fees could be.
“Are we going to have less services?” she asked.
Board members did not say what the ramifications could be. The BIA did not respond to requests for comment.
The public has until August 10 to comment on the proposed rate increase. All comments must be made in writing and addressed to: Yulan Jin, Chief, Division of Water and Power, Office of Trust Services, Mail Stop 4637-MIB, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240. The office’s telephone number is 202-219-0941.
